Street letter and package deposit box



No. 625,8!9. Patented May 30, I899.

s. n. WABFIELD. STREET LETTERAND PACKAGE DEPOSIT BOX.

(Application filed B'une 23, 1897.)

3 Sheets-Sheet. I.

.(No Model.)

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No. 625,8l9. Patented May 30, I899.

S. D. WARFIELD.

STREET LETTER AND PACKAGE DEPOSIT BOX.

(Applicafion filed June 28, 1897.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

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No. 625,8!9. Patented May 30, I899.

S. D. WARFIELD.

STREET LETTER AND PACKAGE DEPOSIT BOX.

(Application filed June 23, 1897.) a Sheets-Sheet 3.

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SOLOMON DAVIES WARFIELD,

PATENT OFFlCE.

OF BALTIMORE MARYLAND.

STREET LETTER AND PACKAGE DEPOSIT BOX.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent N0. 625,819, dated May 30, 1899.

Application filed June 23, 1897- Serial No. 641,867. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SOLOMON DAvIEs WAE- FIELD, of the cityof Baltimore, State of Maryland, have invented certain Improvements in Street Letter and Package Deposit Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a special form of collection deposit=box, to be used in connection with street letter and package railwaypost-oftice cars now employed in carrying United States mails.

In operation the collectors of mail make their rounds of the smaller letter and package boxes placed on the corners of streets and bring the contents of these boxes to the deposit collection-boxes hereinafter described, which are distributed along the line of the street-railways on which are run the postal ears. When the collectors gather the mail from the smaller boxes, they empty it into their satchels, and these satohels are emptied directly into the pouches or bags which are hung within the said deposit-boxes. The lids or hoods are provided with two openings, one for letters and the other for packages, as a convenience to the public; but the collectors open the lids and empty their satchels directly into the pouches.

When a car passes a collection and deposit box, the collector leaves the car, carrying with him two empty pouches. He opens the box, withdraws the two full pouches therefrom, and replaces them with the two empty ones he has brought with him. He then returns to the car and passes to the clerk therein the filled pouches he has withdrawn from the box. This provides a rapid means of bringing mail from boxes to the cars. The pouches having hinged months which are closed as larged view of the upper part of Fig. 3, showing the various relative positions of certain parts thereof hereinafter fully described.

Referring now to the drawings, A is the casing of the box, formed of sheet iron or steel, having a flap or, shown as hinged to the front plate I) at c. The position of the hinge c is about midway between the top and the bottom of the box. The flap (1 opens outward and is provided at its upper edge with an angle-iron rim d, which when the flap is closed is in alinement with a similar angle-iron rim 0, which extends around the three sides of the casing.

B is a hood or cover for the box A. It is curved, asshown, and hinged at the rear to the upper part of the casing. The lower edge of the hood laps over the upper edge of the casing and its front flap and is provided with a hasp f, which passes over a staple g, secured to the flap. A look of any suitable description (not shown) is used to complete the fastening. To sustain the hood when it is thrown back into the position indicated by its dotted delineation in Fig. 2, it is furnished with a pivoted rod 0 at each side, the said rods passing through slots h in the angle-iron rim eat the sides of the casing and having at their ends lugs t', which as the hood is thrown back come into contact with the under side of the said angle-iron rim.

To hold the flap a in place when the hood is raised, it is provided with two catches j, and the sides of the casing have latches k to engage therewith. The latches have each a tailpiece m, whereby they are operated to throw them out of contact with thecatches.

The box A is intended to hold two removable flexible mail pouches or bagsD, one for letters and the other for packages. These bags, only one of which is shown in full lines of Fig-.53, are fitted with metal .straps'F at their mouths, the same being in two parts hinged together at n, so as to close, and they rest, when the bags are open and in place, on theangle-iron. rims d and e and the central bar G, asshown in Fig. The bags or pouches are steadied by hooks on lugsp on the anglebars and the cross-bar G, the material. of the bags being cut away at the hinges to allow of such connection.

From- "the foregoing description it will be understood that when the bags are in place in the box they are sustained at the four sides, and therefore remain in an extended or open 1 conditiom'and it will be seen that thereis no space left around the exterior of the bags thro ughwhich anything dropped to them-can pass. I

The front sideq of the hood has-a slot H for letters, which is covered-with a shield I to prevent the entrance of rain to the box;

Iietters-insertcd through this slot fall to one 1 to thefront plate (1 and arranged when closed tocomeincontact withthe outside of the said plate which furnishes a stop. The hood B projects overthe top of thedoorK to prevent entrance-of rain to the aperture covered by it andi also to as'sist in preventing the abstraction-of letters andpackages from the'bags'or -pouches D, sis-hereinafter explained. i

FlOllIllllO loweredge of the door K extends a downwardly-inchnedtable L,which is within 'tlieihood', and at the endsof the table are side 4 is operatedby meansof a finger-hook 0.

t'o-those-on the door K.

t-toithe :lugs to on thecurved plateP. The length of the links Q'is such that when the doorKis closed the curved plate P is held in The lower portion thereby forming stops .N, which prevent the byTi-ts-dotted'delineation in Fig; 4. The dooi P is'a curved plate hinged at rto the under sideof thehood. It has side pieces 3, similai Q Q are links pivoted at tto-the door K and theposition shown in the drawings infull lines, which gives ample space between the lower edge of theinclined table Land the lower-edge of thecurved plate P for the pas-g sage: of packages. I

The-arrangement of the inclined table'Ii and thecurved plate P, together with that of theconnecting-links Q, is such that at no time can any instrument be inserted through 6 for the abstraction of packages.

the door opening into the box below the hood This willbe apparent by reference to the Fig. 4, in which 'serting a wire or other instrument into the box or the bag therein. When the door is fully closed, the spaces between the lower edge of the inclined table and the lower edge of the curved plate are sufficiently separated to admit of the free passage of packagesto "the bag,asbefore stated. It will 'thereforebeseen that in no relative'positi'onof the door and t'able'is "there any opening left for tlie insertion of an abstracting instrument.

As before stated, the-box contains twobags or pouches, one for the letters and theother -for packages, af1d when the mail-matter-is to 'be-collected the hood is unlocked and then lifted orthrown back, as shown bydotted lines in Fig. 2. The flap is then unlat'ched =and-allowed to fall forward, when the-bags may be easily-lifted out of the casing and empty ones substituted'forthem. Without the movable-flap, in viewof theheight of the -box,-it would 'be almost impossible to liftout the bags, and the hinged'flap therefore becomes an important and necessary feature of the invention.

While Ihave stated that'the' fiap a is hinged, it is evident that it could be madetoslide without mater-ially affecting the character of the invention.

The mail-collector first hangs the empty bags which are'to-be subs'tituted'for those in the box on the hooks v; one of which is on each side of the box, until the withdrawal or removal of the filled ones. This arrangement obviates-the necessity of placing the empty ;bags on the ground while the partially-filled ones are being removed. After the sub'stitution of theemptyfor the filled bags the'fiap .ais raised and the hood closed and locked.

' I claim as my invention 1. In a streetletter and package box; a casing having a hinged flap susceptible of an outward movemenhand ahood1hinged to the rear side of the said, casing, the-lower edge of which hood overlaps the upper edge ofthe' casing, and the top of the flap, combined with a removable mail-bag suspended within the said casing by means of a nietallicstrapin two partshinged together so as to close" and which rests on the rim formedwithin" and combined with a curved plate hinged to the inner surface of the hood, and pivoted rods to connect the upper part of the door with the said curved plate,whereby the spaces between the lower edges of the table and curved plate are entirely lapped before the upper edge of the door passes beyond the overhanging edge of the hood, substantially as specified.

3. In a street letter and package box, the following elements in combination, Viz, a casing having a front flap hinged at the bottom to the casing, a hood hinged to the rear side of the casing and adapted to pass over the upper edge of the casing and top of the flap, a package-door in the front of the hood hav- SOLOMON DAVIES WARFIELD.

Witnesses:

WM. T. HOWARD, DANL. FISHER. 

